Chapter 87 Inquiry (First Update)_1
Translator: 549690339
After a day full of right and wrong, Mo Hua wanted to sleep early, but he couldn’t fall asleep. Thinking it over, he still decided to go into his Sea of Consciousness and practiced the Formation on the stele all night.
When drawing the Formation, his mind was free from distractions, and his mood could more easily settle down.
The next day, Zhang Lan found Mo Hua.
He sat at an Eight Immortals Table in the corner of an eatery, the table laid with several dishes to accompany the drinks, and a pot of wine.
Zhang Lan poured himself a cup of wine and looked at Mo Hua, “Tell me, what happened yesterday?”
Zhang Lan curled his lips, “Don’t play dumb with me, the matter with Qian Xing.”
“He bullied me, then Brother Dazhu and the others helped, a fight broke out, and then you all came,” Mo Hua said, intentionally downplaying the incident.
Although the account was complete, the key content was missing, Zhang Lan couldn’t help but say:
“Don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes, that Formation, it was you who used it, right?”
Mo Hua was startled, “Uncle Zhang, you saw it?”
“I didn’t see it,” Zhang Lan took a sip of wine, “If I had, how could I let them get away with such nonsense.”
Mo Hua asked puzzledly, “Then how did you know it was a Formation and not a Spell?”
After the Earth Fire Formation exploded, the Spirit paper turned to ash. No one should have known it was Mo Hua who hurt Qian Xing with a Formation unless they saw it with their own eyes.
“Where rain falls, traces remain; where geese fly over, they leave their call; a Cultivator doing anything will leave traces. Not being able to see them yourself doesn’t mean others can’t.”
“What sort of traces are there?” Mo Hua humbly asked for advice.
“The ash left by the burned Formation media is different from the ash from other burned objects. After a Formation explodes, the lingering aura of Spiritual Power is also easy to distinguish, and anyone knowledgeable could even tell which Formation you used. There also aren’t many Spells that a Qi Refinement Realm can use. Apart from Spells, only Runes and Formations have such power. Runes are expensive and easier to identify, so thinking it over leaves only the Formation…” Zhang Lan said all this with an air of clear confidence.
“I see,” Mo Hua had a sudden realization, “Then how should one erase these traces?”
“The ash from the Spirit paper scatters with the wind and dissolves in water, or one could directly use other Formation media to draw a Formation, leaving no residue; the aura left by an exploded Formation can be intentionally confused. Still, it doesn’t matter much, as a normal Cultivator can hardly tell the difference between a Formation’s and a Cultivator’s Spiritual Power. And then there is…”
Speaking thus far, Zhang Lan suddenly realized something was off, as if he were teaching Mo Hua how to cover his tracks after doing mischief…
“And what else?” Mo Hua was eagerly listening.
Zhang Lan coughed, “That’s not important. Just tell me, did you hurt Qian Xing or not?”
“No.” Mo Hua wasn’t foolish enough to admit it and create unnecessary trouble.
Zhang Lan looked incredulous.
“Uncle Zhang, think about it, I’m only at the fourth level of Qi Refinement, how could I possibly draw such a powerful Formation?”
“Hmm, that’s a good excuse,” Zhang Lan nodded noncommittally.
“Right?” As soon as Mo Hua finished speaking, he realized what he implied and corrected himself, “That’s the truth, not an excuse!”
Zhang Lan laughed, “Alright, alright, I get it. Don’t worry, I just wanted to know what happened, I wasn’t really going to take you to the Taoist Court for questioning.”
“Your Taoist Court wouldn’t take care of it?”
“The Taoist Court would care, but wouldn’t they also distinguish right from wrong? Could it be that in your eyes, the Taoist Court is in cahoots with the Aristocratic Families and Clans?”
“Yes,” Mo Hua nodded honestly.
It would indeed be strange if the Taoist Court and the Noble Clans were not in cahoots.
Zhang Lan choked on a sip of wine and, after thinking, couldn’t come up with an example to refute, so he had no choice but to claim his innocence, “Alright, there are indeed those who share the same foul breath, but at least I’m not one of them—that should suffice, right?”
Mo Hua looked at him with a bit of sympathy, whispering, “Uncle Zhang, are you being ostracized? Is that why they don’t include you in their games?”
Zhang Lan’s head started to ache a bit, and his heart felt tired. Just as he was about to explain himself, he suddenly realized the topic was dragged off by the kid to who knows where, and the matter he wanted to inquire about was still unfinished.
Zhang Lan glared at Mo Hua, “Stop beating around the bush, I’m talking to you about Qian Xing.”
“Oh,” Mo Hua obediently sat, not planning to say much anyway.
However, both of them knew what was up, it just went unsaid.
Zhang Lan didn’t want to press further, so he said, “With your cultivation at merely the fourth level of Qi Refinement, you indeed cannot draw such a Formation. Therefore, the person who injured Qian Xing is definitely not you.”
“Then who could it be?” Mo Hua asked tentatively.
Zhang Lan raised an eyebrow, “Qian Xing has been throwing his weight around, surely offending many. This time, he caused a scene on the street, and a cultivator took the chance to launch a sneak attack under cover. As for who exactly did it, we’ll need some time to investigate…”
Mo Hua couldn’t help but admire the talent, indeed, everyone in the Taoist Court was capable. He too should learn the skill of telling such blatant lies with eyes wide open.
“Court Leader Zhang, you’ve worked hard. This meal is on me!” Mo Hua slapped his chest and offered generously.
“Oh?” Zhang Lan teased, “In that case, let’s have two more plates of beef and two more jars of fine wine!”
Mo Hua felt a bit awkward, “We’re just a small business, that’s probably enough.”
Zhang Lan couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“By the way, do you have a grudge against Qian Xing? Why did he specifically target you?” Zhang Lan suddenly remembered to ask.
Mo Hua thought for a moment, “Not really a grudge—he asked me to do something for him, I didn’t agree, and he flew into a rage from embarrassment.”
“Yeah,” Mo Hua nodded, “He said he’d kill me and throw me into the mountains to be eaten piece by piece by Monster Beasts, so that the Taoist Court wouldn’t be able to trace it back to him…”
“Son of a bitch!” Zhang Lan slammed the table, exasperating the other customers who turned to look. Zhang Lan quickly coughed and covered it up, “Fine wine!”
Mo Hua couldn’t resist saying, “You’ve damaged our table.”
The table now had several cracks after Zhang Lan’s slam.
Zhang Lan usually restrained his Blood Qi and Spiritual Power, but momentarily, in his anger, he used some strength.
“Put it on my tab, deduct it from my Spirit Stones,” Zhang Lan sheepishly said.
Mo Hua was just speaking rhetorically, but then he asked a question that puzzled him,
“Uncle Zhang, Qian Xing wouldn’t really kill someone, would he…”
Mo Hua had grown up seeing cultivators who mostly toiled for their livelihood. Even if there were fights to the death, they were usually with Monster Beasts. It was rare for cultivators to kill one another.
So when Qian Xing tried to use lethal force over a disagreement, Mo Hua was quite shocked, especially with the casual way Qian Xing talked about murder and the method he described of suspending someone in the mountains for Monster Beasts to eat piece by piece. If he hadn’t actually done it, he probably wouldn’t have spoken so convincingly.
This was also Mo Hua’s first real encounter with the dangers and unpredictability hidden beneath ordinary daily life.
Zhang Lan’s expression also became more somber, “It’s not impossible…”
“Doesn’t the Taoist Court care?”
“The Taoist Court will only act if someone files a report, will only investigate if there are clues, and will only convict if the evidence is conclusive. Otherwise, either they can’t intervene at all or even if they do intervene, they won’t get any results, and in the end, it will usually just come to nothing.”
It seems like the things Qian Xing did would probably all come to nothing…